Life as a Grimes Kid in the Apocalypse
by obsessorofliterallyeverything
Summary: You know everyone from the Grimes family: Rick, Lori, Carl, and later on, Judith. But what if there was one more? Meet Gabriella Iris Grimes, the middle Grimes child.
1. Chapter 1

"Gabi. Gabriella. C'mon, lil sis, we gotta get ready for school," My older brother said, lightly shaking me awake. I opened my eyes and yawned. I rolled over and looked at him.

His bright blue eyes and small smile were the first things that I saw. "Mornin', Carl," I said, sitting up. "Mornin', Gabi. C'mon, I think Mom's making breakfast now," He said, ruffling my slightly curly brown hair. "Okay!" I said, launching myself out of bed and looking for something to wear. He laughed and ran out of my room.

I changed into a plain black t-shirt and some jeans. I threw my hair into a messy bun and looked at myself in the mirror. "I'm not Miss Congeniality, but it'll do," I said, grabbing a hoodie and walking into the bathroom. I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and started to head down the stairs. That's when I heard the yelling.

I never heard my mom and dad fight so bad before that morning. "Hey Gabi, what're you-" I shushed Carl and motioned him over to where I was sitting on the step. He sat next to me and his eyes went wide as he listened to them fight. "Oh man, this is the worst they've ever fought," He whispered, looking at me.

I guess I looked scared, because he put an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. That's when my mom said one of the worst things I've ever heard in my life: "Some days I wonder if you even care about this family!"

Carl and I gasped. I heard silence for a few seconds and then the door slam. Carl and I looked at each other before cautiously walking down the stairs.

I saw my mom standing in the middle of the kitchen with her hand over her mouth. "Mommy?" I whispered after a few seconds of us standing there behind her. She quickly turned around and sighed when she saw us. "You heard all of that, didn't you?" She asked. Carl and I nodded. She sighed again and hugged us. "It was nothing; don't worry, okay?" Mom said.

Carl looked at me. "Didn't sound like nothing," He mouthed. I sighed. I didn't want him to be right but as usual, he was.

 **~Hey guys! Thank you for reading this so far! I haven't seen season 1 in a couple of months, so if I make any mess-ups, just let me know. Thank you so much!~**


	2. Prologue (part 2)

After Carl and I got on the bus to go to school, we were still pretty shaken up by Mom and Dad's fight. Instead of Carl going to sit with his friends, he walked right by them and sat next to me.

I closed my eyes and leaned on his shoulder. "It's gonna be okay, Gabi. I got you, don't worry," Carl said, wrapping his arm around me. I looked at him and threw my arms around his neck. "Thanks, big brother," I said. I closed my eyes again and fell asleep for the rest of the bus ride.

Once we got to school, Carl woke me up and we went our separate ways. Since he was in sixth grade and I was in fourth, we didn't see each other in school that often.

Luckily, the day went by pretty fast. Got the homework, ate lunch, dealt with the bullies, yippee.

At the end of the day, Carl and I met back up at the doors like always. "Hey, Gabi," He said, flipping my hood over my eyes just to annoy me. "Stahhhhhp," I said, laughing.

I looked towards the street and saw Mom with Dad's best friend, Shane. Carl and I waved before running over to her. She hugged both of us before kneeling down to our eye level. "Gabriella, Carl, something's happened to your father. He was-" She took a shaky breath before continuing. "He was shot today. He's in the hospital now."

Carl had tears streaming down his face and I was crying my eyes out. "I want to give blood," Carl said, his sobbing making his voice strained. I vaguely heard my mom trying to talk him out of it, but my hearing was messed up, my eyes were clouding, and my breathing was shallow.

My parents had a blown out fight that morning. My dad had gotten shot. My dad might die. My big brother was having a meltdown. My mom seemed to be okay, but how long would that last? And then there's Shane, but he technically wasn't part of my family. Was I the most stable person in my family at ten years old?

Damn, I _really_ hoped not.


	3. The World as We Know It

It was a couple weeks after Dad had gotten shot and life sucked.

Dad was in a coma, Carl wasn't taking it very well, Mom was starting to not handle the situation very well either, and no offense to him, but I was getting _really_ sick of Shane hanging out with us all the time. He just gave me the hebee jeebies.

Anyway, it was a Saturday the day the world ended. I hadn't slept well the night before because I was thinking about my dad all night. I rolled over and looked at my alarm clock. "7:30," I groaned, rolling back over. I obviously wasn't gonna get any more sleep so I just decided to get up.

I got in the shower, threw on an old Radiohead tour shirt, jeans, and my flip flops before heading downstairs to get something to eat. I poured a bowl of cereal and jumped up onto the counter. "Mom's gonna kill you if she sees you sitting there," I heard Carl say.

I looked up and I saw him walk into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. "Jeez, big brother, you look great," I said sarcastically, shoving more cereal in my mouth. "Back at you, Radiohead," He lightly teased, grabbing a yogurt out of the fridge. I chuckled and walked over to him to give him a hug.

"We'll be okay, Gabriella. Don't worry," Carl said, smiling at me. I smiled back at him and we grabbed our food before heading into the living room to watch TV.

Mom came downstairs a few hours later but didn't say a word to us. Carl and I looked at each other before turning our attention back to the cartoon. A few minutes later, we heard screams from outside. "What the hell," Mom said, looking out the window. Carl and I got up and looked out of the living room window.

"Mom," Carl asked, visibly shaken. "What are the things walking down the street?"

Not even two seconds after he said that, Shane burst through the door. "LORI! CARL! GABI! C'MON WE GOTTA GO NOW!" He yelled, the screams outside now much louder since the door was open. "Carl, Gabi, go grab anything you can find." Carl and I looked at each other, terrified. "GO!" Mom cried.

Carl and I ran up the stairs at record speed and rushed into our rooms. I shoved clothes, books, shoes, toiletries, and anything else I could find into my backpack. I ran into the bathroom to see Carl already clearing it out. "C'mon Gab!" He said, grabbing my hand. "Wait! Did you grab my-" "I got your precious hair dye, Gabriella, come on!" He cried, pulling on me before we ran back downstairs.

Damn, I loved my brother.

My mom and Shane were clearing out the living room when Carl and I ran back downstairs. "Carl, Gabi, get inside my car, now," Shane said, grabbing one of the bags my mom tossed him. "But," Carl started protesting, probably wanting to help Mom. "Now!" He said, more angrily this time.

Carl and I ran outside and get into the backseat of Shane's car. I hugged my backpack to my chest and looked around outside, terrified. There were people everywhere, trying to run from what was chasing them. Which were fucking dead people. Literally. Reanimated people were chasing everyone who had beating hearts through the streets and eating them.

"Oh my god," I whispered, tears streaming down my face. Carl pulled me into him and hid my face from the windows. "Shh," He said, not wanting me to cry and not wanting me to attract the things. Mom and Shane ran out of the house before getting into the car. Shane immediately started the car, shot out of the driveway, hit the gas, and flew down the street.

"Wait!" I said urgently. Mom and Carl looked at me as I lifted my tear-stained face off of Carl's shirt. "Where's Daddy?" I asked, my lip quivering. I was pretty sure I knew the answer. I was also pretty sure I didn't want to hear it. I was right.

"He's dead, Gabi."

And the world as I knew it was over.


	4. Atlanta's a No-Go

For three hours, we drove through hordes of screaming people, the hungry undead, and the worst enemy of all: traffic.

I still had my face buried in Carl's shirt, not even crying anymore. At that point, I was just numb. My dad was dead. We were stuck with Shane (woooooo). And there were fucking dead things roaming the streets. So yeah, numb was a fairly okay way to describe how I was feeling.

My mom and Shane were freaking out pretty bad over what was going on, while Carl and I were laying down in the backseat, trying to stay out of sight of the things. Since I was still having a panic attack over what was going on, Carl was hugging me and singing Blink-182 songs quietly to try and calm me down. It wasn't working too well, but I loved him so much for trying.

"What the hell?" Shane muttered, bringing the car to a complete stop on the highway we were on, trying to get to Atlanta. "We're getting out, guys, come on," Mom said, opening her door. Carl got out first and helped me out next.

We walked forwards a little ways before registering that there was no way we were going anywhere. There were hundreds and hundreds of cars stretching down the highway. "Crap," I muttered, leaning against Carl to steady myself.

We ended up stopping next to a little family: a mom, a dad, and their daughter. Mom and Shane ended up talking to the mom while the dad just kinda hung back and glared at everyone. Carl and the girl started talking while I just kinda hid behind Carl, since I was already shy and then terrified of the current situation.

Shane said something that caught the girl's attention. "I like your dad," She said. My head immediately snapped up. "He's not our dad," Carl and I said simultaneously. "Our dad's dead," Carl said darkly, staring at the ground.

We were all quiet for a few seconds until the girl spoke again. "I'm Sophia," She said with a small smile. "I'm Carl, and this is my sister Gabi. I call her Radiohead," Carl said, looking down at me. I giggled and waved to Sophia. She laughed and waved back.

Suddenly, I heard bombs going off, buildings crashing, and people screaming. Carl, Sophia, and I looked at each other in alarm. "Atlanta's been overrun! We gotta go!" Shane yelled, running back towards us with our parents. "Dammit, will I ever get away from him?" I muttered. "Can we stay with you?" Sophia's mom asked, looking as scared as I felt. "Of course; let's go," Lori said, reaching for Carl's hand as he immediately grabbed mine.

As we got into the car, I looked back towards Atlanta. Oh, sorry, I mean what _used_ to be Atlanta. I sighed as Carl and I laid down in the backseat again. "Our lives are over," I said, just loud enough for Carl to hear. Judging by his silence, he was in one hundred percent agreement with me.


	5. A Truck and Ferrari Brought My Dad Home

*two months later*

I sighed as I sat back down next to Carl and Sophia on our favorite bench. We had found a camp in a quarry, and it was actually pretty cool. It had been a while after we left Atlanta, but I don't know exactly how long. I lost track of the days after the first two weeks.

I was depressed, hungry, and tired. I could tell Carl and Sophia weren't doing too well either. I had no idea about my mom and Shane, since I really hadn't been talking to either of them. They disappeared together yesterday, but I didn't really care. As long as Shane didn't kill my mom or something, I didn't give a shit. But if my mom killed Shane, I'd go run to find a Party City.

"Gabi?" Sophia said gently, tapping my shoulder. "Huh?" I said, coming out of my thoughts. "Have you heard anything from Dale about the group that went to Atlanta?" Carl asked. I shook my head. "I haven't really talked to anyone except for you guys," I said quietly, looking down at my hands that were tapping out the notes to Ode to Joy. I used to play the piano before all of this crap started.

Carl leaned over to give me a quick hug before sitting up straight and looking around confused. "Is that a car alarm?" Sophia asked. We all looked at each other before running to go find our moms.

Everybody was running to the entrance of the quarry in time to see Glenn (he was a pretty awesome dude as far as I could tell) come flying into the camp in a freaking Ferrari. Oh, and the Ferrari had a freaking blaring alarm.

They figured out how to turn off the alarm so it wouldn't attract any walkers. A few seconds later, a truck pulled into the camp. Mom wrapped her arms around me and Carl, probably thinking that we were hoping that Dad would've ended up coming back with them. We were hoping against hope, but it was so unrealistic that I wanted to punch myself for even thinking about. He was in a freaking coma when the apocalypse started. Hell, I wondered if the hospital was even still standing.

I saw Andrea jump out of the back of the truck and run to hug her sister. I heard them crying and laughing. I saw Morales' kids and wife run over to him as he walked over to us. "Come here," Mom said, once we realized Dad wasn't there. Carl started crying as I tried really hard not to. "It'll be okay. We're okay," She said, kneeling down to meet us at eye level. We nodded as I finally let a tear roll down my face. My dad was really gone.

"How'd y'all get out anyway?" Shane asked. "The new guy," Glenn said, smiling. "New guy?" Shane asked, looking kinda confused. "Yeah. Crazy _pato_ just got into town. Hey, helicopter boy!" Morales called. I still had my eyes closed from trying to hold back tears as I heard another door of the truck open. I heard footsteps so I finally opened my eyes and turned around. Carl looked at the same time I did, and our faces held the same look of complete and utter shock.

My father was standing twenty feet away from us.

"Oh my god," I heard him say as he walked towards us. "DAD! DAD!" Carl and I screamed, running towards him with Mom right behind us. He grabbed me and Carl and fell to the ground, holding back sobs. He picked us up and kissed both of our foreheads before walking over to Mom. My head was still buried in his shirt, crying my heart out. I felt Dad wrap his other arm around her and Mom's arms pulled us all in together.

I turned my head to see Shane standing there in shock. Haha. Don't underestimate Rick Grimes, bitch. But for the first time since the end of the world started, I wasn't worried about anything.

Our family was a family again.

~Hey guys! Just a note on Gabi's apparent hate towards Shane: She's never liked him, even before the walker apocalypse started. And then he was trying to be like a father figure to her and Carl after their own dad was presumed dead. She also realizes that Shane and Lori had something going on, so that was another reason for her dislike for him to grow. She's smart for an eight year old. Okay, I'm done now. See ya!~


	6. Things Get Freaky

I was sitting against Carl's stomach, half asleep. My dad, mom and everyone else from the camp were sitting around the campfire while Dad told everyone about how he found us. It was really hard listening to his story, because I mean, I was terrified of what was going on when things first went down. And I had three other people with me. Even though I kinda wanted Shane to slip and fall off a cliff. Just sayin'.

"I needed to find my family," Dad finished, kissing my forehead and ruffling Carl's hair. I giggled and smiled for the first time in a while. I shivered and Carl wrapped his blanket around the two of us and hugged me a little tighter. We honestly were like best friends. It was really nice to have that kind of relationship after all that happened so far.

Everyone sitting around us looked absolutely stunned. I mean, I was too. Coming out of a 10 week long coma, realizing the apocalypse had started, escaping two walkers while he was half conscious, and fighting his way out of a whole herd (with Glenn's help of course), but still. That's some crazy shit right there.

"Gabriella, language," Mom chided. Oh shit, did I say that out loud? "Gabriella!" "I'm sorry!" I cried as laughter echoed around me. "Okay, I think it's time for Little Miss Sailor Mouth here to hit the hay," Dad said, laughing. I grumbled until Carl swung me around and placed me on his back. I dropped my head on his shoulder and immediately became exhausted as he carried me to the tent.

"Night, Radiohead," He said, pulling the blankets over me. "Radiohead?" I heard Dad whisper. "She's obsessed with the band, so I started calling her Radiohead," Carl said, like "well, duh, Dad". "When did that happen?" He asked. "The week you got shot," Mom said quietly. The three of them got really quiet for a few seconds until I rolled over. "How Do You's really good, Dad. You should listen to it sometime," I mumbled, pulling the blanket up to my chin.

He chuckled and kissed my forehead. "I'll try my best to do that, Gabi. Come on, get some sleep," Dad said, gently nudging Carl over to his pile of blankets as he and Mom laid down in the center of the tent. "Night, Dad. I love you," Carl said, laying down on the blankets. "I love you too, Carl. And you, Gabi," He said. I mumbled something before I rolled back over and passed out.

A couple hours later, I woke back up from a nightmare about walkers, as usual. I looked around for Carl, who was out like a light. Then I heard noises from inside our tent. I looked over at where Mom and Dad had fallen asleep and quickly realized they were no longer asleep. I quietly rolled over to face the side of the tent away from them and tried not to puke. Like, ew, guys, not with your two kids less than ten feet away from you.

I honestly just hoped nothing too bad would come out of that, except for my eyeballs needing to be bleached. Boy, was I wrong.

 **~Hey guys! I'm so sorry I've been so inactive, but I've had a lot of stuff going on over the last few months. I hope you guys like the next few chapters I have planned! :)))~**


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